Taking Chances
by Native23
Summary: Lennon Williams is Stark Industries youngest Human Resource Director. She's confident, smart, and extremely accident prone. Here she thought being in charge of the Human Resource Department was hard, but being trained to run all of Stark Industries, now that's hard.
1. New Beginnings

The streets of New York City were particularly busy one morning. Shouts, yells, and honks could be heard throughout the streets as a young woman, in her early to mid twenties pushed her way through the crowd.

The young woman was rather small, no taller than 5'2", and held a cellphone to her face. She was speaking quickly to whoever was on the other side of the phone call, and not really paying attention to her surroundings. As the light changed and the pedestrian signal shown she stepped out into the street but was quickly grabbed by the back of her jacket sending her to the ground, her cellphone flew into the street.

"What the hell!" She shouted as she looked up in time to see a car run the red light, flying by, right where she was standing. The other cars were able to stop in time as the car drove through the intersection, but not without honking their horns. She had almost been hit if it weren't for whoever had pulled her back.

The same hand that had ripped her back and flung her on the ground was now picking her up and grabbing her bag. "I'm sorry, ma'am." She just noticed the man, He was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses.

Finally standing on her own she brushed him off and looked around for her cellphone. She was on a call for work before being pulled back. "Don't worry about it."

Her phone lay in the street crushed by the passing cars. With a groan she began to cross the street again, once the signal changed. This time, making sure it was safe first.

She needed to quickly get to the office and call back. The young woman walked as fast as she could through the streets and pushed through everyone that was in her way. It wasn't until she was almost to the building that she noticed that her bag was missing.

Everything was in her bag, but that wasn't her biggest concern at the moment. Her largest concern was that her boss had probably thought that she had hung up on him.

Quickly she ran into the building and waved at Mark, who usually checked their badges. She was lucky enough that he knew who she was, since her badge was in the missing bag.

As she entered the elevator and watched as the numbers ascended she finally allowed herself to take a breath while she leaned against the wall. It was then that she realized that she had almost been killed. The situation would have knocked anyone else in their ass, but she couldn't let herself be consumed by the thoughts of, 'what ifs'.

The elevator rose, and as it got close she straightened up and took one last deep breath. The elevator doors opened letting her enter the busy office where her assistant, Anita, immediately was before her. "Miss Williams, Mr. Stark has called your office five times."

With a groan, she nodded to the older woman. "Thank you, Anita." As Miss Williams briskly walked through the room to get to her office at the back of the room she received strange looks from the other office occupants.

Her office was large, and being halfway up Stark Tower, it had quite a view. Sitting down at her desk near the window, she reached across and pressed the button to close the curtains to the large windows looking out to the rest of her department. If she were going to be tore a new one, she would prefer it be in private.

With a final sigh Miss Williams picked up the phone and dialed Mr. Stark's number. Leaning back in her seat, she turned to look out over the city.

The phone had rang three times before the line was picked up. "You're alive." Was the bored drawl of the company's owner.

Confusion crossed the young woman's face before she responded. "Yes sir, I am." Before he could go off on her she continued, "I wanted to apologize as well sir, I did not mean to hang up on you." There was a pause on her side as she turned to look at her large office. "There was an incident."

She held her breath as she waited for a respond from her boss, "I figured as much from the shouts and horn honks." Of course he would, he was a genius. "Now that we have established that you are very much alive, let us continue with our meeting."

"Yes sir." She quickly pulled the copy of the documents she had earlier out of her desk and began where she had left off. All that the young woman could think of, was how lucky she was that her boss was so understanding.

The young Miss Williams, now sat in her office, alone and relieved. She was terrified of what was going to happen during her phone conference with Mr. Stark, but it had gone really well and he was happy with the progress she had made.

To be quite frank, Miss Williams was surprised that she was even put in charge of the Human Resource Department of Stark Industries, being that she was only twenty three years old, and had been in charge of H.R for two and a half years.

Miss Williams had graduated high school and started university at the age of sixteen. She graduated university at twenty, with a bachelor's degree, majoring in business with a minor in human resources.

That is why the young woman was surprised that she had gotten the job. She was probably the least qualified for the job, and was definitely the youngest. But for some reason, she had made an impression on Mr. Stark and he hired her on the spot, not even waiting for the rest of the interviews.

So there she was, a twenty year old, fresh out of university, being thrown into the head position of the Human Resource Department of Stark Industries. She was about to give up, a month into the position when Mr. Stark has found her crying in the stairwell.

How he even found her there, she didn't know. But in his own, condescending, sarcastic way, he had snapped her out of her funk and she came back and learned everything she needed and is now the best damn Human Resource Director Stark Industries has ever had, according to Mr. Stark.

* * *

"Anita." Miss Williams head poked out of her office as she called for her assistant. The assistant immediately came rushing over and into the office, waiting for the young woman to give orders. "I need you to send these Documents to Ms. Potts and hand deliver these to Scott Dugan in Accounting."

Anita grabbed the two documents out of Miss Williams hands and gave her a nod. "Yes Miss Williams." The younger woman's gave her a smile and waited for her to go run those errands.

However the older lady paused as she began to walk away and turned around. Miss Williams eyebrow rose as she gave her a questioning look. "Is there something you need Anita?"

The older woman looked over at the security guard before turning back to her boss. "I overheard the guard say that there was a man downstairs asking for you, but they didn't want to disturb you since he didn't have clearance."

The younger woman looked to the guard standing next to the elevator and hit gnawed on her lower lip. Who would be looking for her? Giving the woman a nod, "Thank you, Anita."

Anita then left her to go do her work. Miss Williams went into her office and began sending emails to the employees who had emailed her with their concerns.

She had gotten through three emails when her curiosity got the better of her and she got up and walked out of her office. As she neared the elevator the security guard pressed the button and gave her a smile. Thanking him, she stepped in and pressed the button for the lobby.

Standing right in front, she watched as the numbers descended until she hit the lobby floor. Without saying anything to the guard she walked right up to Mark and leaned against the counter.

"What can I do for you, Miss Williams?" Always so polite.

She just looked at the man before giving him a slight smile. "Heard there was a man looking for me down here."

Mark's face went serious as he glared at the guard next to the elevator. "I'm apologize Miss Williams, I told Cary not to bother you."

Miss Williams just waved a hand at the man and smiled. "Don't worry about it Mark, I needed a break anyway." She looked around and then noticed a man, who stood out quite a bit sitting in the front lobby. It was the same man from this morning.

She gave Mark a pat on the arm and walked over to the man who was sitting in a chair, while looking out one of the large glass windows.

He didn't seem to notice her as she approached, it wasn't until she stood in front of him that he looked up at her. "You stalking me?" The young woman asked as she crossed her arms and stared the man straight in the face. Being in her position of work, she had grown to be a very confident woman, one who wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

The man quickly stood up, and that's when she saw the bag sitting next to him, more specifically, her bag. His eyes were still covered in sunglasses, not allowing her to see his expression. "No ma'am." He picked up the bag and held it out to her. "Your badge said Stark, so I figured you were here."

Reaching out she grabbed the bag and began checking it over. Everything was still inside. Looking back up at the man she smiled and held her hand out. "My name's Lennon."

The man quickly reached out and grasped the woman's hand, giving a firm, but still light to the touch shake. "Steve."

With another smile she hoisted the bag up on her shoulder. "Thank you, Steve. It was really nice of you to return this to me." She pulled out her clutch and waved it at him. "I was just about to cancel my cards."

His face contorted into a look of confusion as he took a step away from her. "Why wouldn't I bring it back to you?"

Lennon gave him a small smile as she realized something. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Steve had now taken a few steps towards the exit. "I am, actually." Her eyebrow rose and he gave her a smile at her surprise. "Brooklyn."

The shock was still evident as she took a couple steps towards the elevator. "Well, thanks again, Steve." Giving him one last little wave, she turned on her heel and walked over to the elevator.

She gave Cary a nod as she stepped into the elevator. It was when she leaned against the back wall and looked back out into the lobby she saw him for the last time. His back was to her, and he was walking out the glass doors, heading into the busy streets. And that was the last she saw, before the doors closed and blocked her view.

* * *

The bar was dark and filled with many different types of people. It often was extremely busy on Friday evenings, with the regular crowd. On that Friday the bar was filled with the usual people, but there must have been some event going on, because there were quite a few out of towners.

"My day sucked." A slim, average height man, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes said slid into the barstool next to Lennon.

The tiny brunette smirked at him as she slid him her beer. "I had a pretty decent day." She paused and took a moment to look at his face. "Besides, the almost dying part."

The beer that she just handed him was put down as he looked at her in disbelief. "What happened now?"

Lennon's mouth dropped open and she snatched her beer back from him as she scowled. "It's not like I'm always getting hurt."

The man just gave her a look, as if to say 'really'. He put his hand on her arm and shook his head in mock sympathy. "Do you know how many hospital visits we made last year?"

She scoffed and pushed him away before downing the rest of the beer. "There were six visits, and two of them were yours, mister." She gave him a hard poke in the chest with her last word.

He waved down the bartender and ordered them another round before turning back to her. "Okay, truce." Holding up his hand he gave her a smirk that would have made any other woman swoon. "So what happened?"

They both drank their beers as Lennon told him of the events that had taken place that day. He had done really well, and only interrupted twice. To which she ignored and continued on.

"So the man saved your life," he paused long enough for her to answer with a , 'yep'. "And then he even brought your bag back to you." Once again He paused waiting for an answer, this time she nodded. "With everything still in it?"

"Yep, nothing missing at all." Stacy, the bartender approached them and handed them their drinks, both orders going towards their tab. "I was surprised myself."

He picked up his beer and downed half of it before turning to her with a grin. "Remind me to thank this Steve."

The woman beside him laughed as she took a sip of her beer. "I'm sure you'll never meet him, Dean." Looking up into the television behind the bar, she watched as a basketball game was played,

They sat in silence for a while, until an attractive man with blonde hair came and sat on the barstool, on the other side of Lennon. Both Lennon and Dean ignored the man, and Lennon had even leaned closer to Dean to put space between them.

The man obviously didn't notice as he leaned closer to her and grinned. He was definitely drunk, and most definitely was not from here. "What you drinking sweetheart?" She heard a bit of a southern accent and rolled her eyes at Dean who was trying to suppress his laugh.

She held up the beer she had just gotten. "I'm full, thanks." Lennon had tried to dismiss him as she turned her back to him and faced Dean, but the man was obviously not taking the hint.

"I'll get your next one." She rolled her eyes once again but didn't acknowledge the man. "So, you from around here?"

The whole time the man was trying to gain her attention she was staring straight at Dean, begging him with her eyes to intervene. Finally, he decided that he would help the girl out.

Getting off his barstool he stepped around the girl, and put his arm around her. "Hey man, my name's Dean." He held his hand out to the man.

The man slowly grabbed the offered hand, but was looking at Lennon the whole time. "Rob."

Lennon then swung around in her seat, and put her arm around the Dean's waist, who was now standing next to her stool. Rob's eyes widened as he finally got the hint.

Sliding an arm around the woman's shoulder he gave the man a grin."Nice to meet you, wanna beer?" Dean asked as he waved Stacy down. Even when he was crushing a man's shot he was still polite. But his polite was more of a sarcastic politeness, so it hardly ever seemed genuine.

The man shook his head and just continued to watch the both of us for a moment before he slid out of his seat and walked away.

He wasn't even a few steps away when Dean started laughing at the man. Lennon reached over and smacked his arm. "He can hear you."

Dean shrugged as Stacy walked up to them. "Let him." He turned his dazzling smile to the woman in front of them. "Can I get two more, Stacy?" Nodding to the man she went to go grab the beers.

"God, you're such an ass." She told him as she turned back to the basketball game.

With a smirk he slid into the barstool next to her and bumped her shoulder. "You're the one who asked for my help."

* * *

Lennon was rushing around trying to quickly ready herself. She was not expecting company, especially said company being her boss, and boss' girlfriend. Why Mr. Stark was wanting to meet with her at her condo, she didn't know. But her hangover was definitely not helping.

All the possibilities kept running through her head as she ran around living room, picking up anything that made it look cluttered. She hadn't even been able to dress yet, meaning she was running around in her underwear. Lennon was just getting out of the shower when she got the phone call.

"Shit!" In her hurry she had knocked over a glass lamp, sending shards of glass flying across the floor. At this point she knew that Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts would be getting close and left the mess until she was dressed.

Quickly she entered her room and passed through to the walk in closet in the back. Each side was filled with different clothing items. One side held her work clothes and heels, while the other held her casual and sandals, sneakers, and boots.

The dilemma was what to wear. Was it a meeting? Was this personal? Finally with the decision of it being a meeting she slipped on one of her pencil skirts and a red button down. As she ran out into the living room she put her heels on and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

Just as she finished her hair the buzzer rang. She cursed as she ran over to the intercom. "Yes?"

Gary the morning guard was who buzzer. "You have guest Miss Williams, a Mr. Stark and a Ms. Potts." She looked over at the broken lamp still on the floor and sighed.

"Send them up, Roy." She didn't wait for a response and quickly ran over to the lamp and began picking up the pieces.

It was when there was a knock on the door that she panicked and grabbed a shard a little too hard, slicing her hand open. "Damn it." Dropping the shard she ran into the kitchen and pulled a towel out of the drawer next to the sink.

The door was knocked on again. She gave her hand one last glance before walking over to the door. Giving her skirt a brush down with her good hand, she opened the door.

Mr. Stark was the first to walk in, he immediately began looking the place over. It was as soon as he saw the broken lamp that he looked back to Lennon and saw the cut. But in Ms. Potts case, she had already seen it and asked if she were okay.

"What'd you do kid?" Mr. Stark asked as he walked over and sat in the armchair next to the, now broken lamp.

Ms. Potts was sending him a glare before turning back to Lennon with an apologetic look. "Ignore him."

And Lennon was going to do just that. Ms. Potts took the few steps before sitting down on the couch. Both were dressed semi-casually and she felt completely over dressed.

Not wanting to prolong her already stretched curiosity she dove straight in. "What is it that you needed to speak to me about, Mr. Stark?"

Both Lennon and Ms. Potts waited for an answer and Mr. Stark eyes the young woman. He looked to be watching her in a calculating way. It was a few moments before he spoke, "Is this what you usually wear during your weekends?"

"Tony!" Ms. Potts eyes narrowed at the man, as Lennon looked over her outfit. She definitely should have gone casual. Mr. Stark was wearing blue jeans and a plain shirt, while Ms. Potts wore a summer dress.

She felt the need to explain her outfit. "Well, you called this meeting, to which, I thought was a business meeting." She motioned to her outfit with her uninjured hand. "Therefore, the business meeting clothes."

He nodded slowly as he looked her over again. "Did I not tell you this was casual." A smirk came over his face as he shot Ms. Potts a wink.

"Must not have got the memo." Lennon sat forward in her chair and stared the man in the eye. She had heard of his sarcastic ways, but had really only been in his presence a hand full of times.

Tony Stark leaned back in his own chair and chuckled. He liked working with people who didn't take what he said to heart. Made work a lot more fun. "So, we came here kid, to talk about your job."

Lennon's heart immediately dropped into her stomach and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. That was it, she was getting fired. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Ms. Potts spoke up. "Don't worry Lennon." Her head turned to look at the woman, "You're not being fired." She must have been able to see the panic on her face.

Her brows furrowed together as she looked between the two of them in confusion. "If I'm not being fired, what is there to discuss about my job?"

Ms. Potts once again took the initiative. "Are you aware of my position with Stark Industries?" Tony had now stood up and began walking around the room. He seemed to be taken with an art piece next to the hallway entrance.

Lennon looked back to Me. Potts and nodded. "Yes, Ms. Potts." She once again followed Tony Stark with her eyes until he disappeared into the kitchen.

When she turned back to look at Ms. Potts the older woman was once again giving her an apologetic smile. "I apologize for Tony, since I know he won't." She tried to look for him as well, but he was out of sight. "He doesn't seem to get that its impolite to snoop around other people's homes."

Lennon was about to respond when Tony came back into the room and flipped down on the chair again. "Nice place." He gave Ms. Potts a look, "Did you talk about the job yet?"

Ms. Potts shot him a glare. "I was getting ready to when you interrupted us."

Tony just shrugged his shoulders as he smiled. "Continue."

The bickering between these two, was endearing. It made Lennon really admire them as a couple, and realize that Ms. Potts must be a saint.

"Anyway, as I was saying Lennon," she paused and gave Tony a pointed look. "You realize that my position with Stark Industries is crucial." Even though it was said as a statement, Lennon still nodded.

"I've heard that you're the glue that holds Stark Industries together, without you it would fall apart." She told the woman.

"Hey now." Stark had said, being indignant. But then he shrugged as he thought for a moment. "Fair enough." He then nodded at Ms. Potts to continue.

"And although I do love my job," she paused and looked over at Tony for a moment, "I do not want to work forever."

Lennon was now getting slightly confused at what was being said. Was she trying to leave Stark Industries?

Ms. Potts leaned forward towards the younger woman. "What I'm trying to get at, is that I would like for you to be the one to fill my position when I decide to leave."

Shock, that was all Lennon felt. Ms. Potts pretty much ran Stark Industries, and she wanted her to take over for her. It was a lot to take in.

"You don't have to answer right now." Lennon looked up from where she was staring at the floor. Ms. Potts was giving her a comforting smile and Mr. Stark had a smirk on his face as he looked at the younger woman.

Lennon began to shake her head as she looked between the two of them. "I would be honored."

A large smile broke out over Ms. Potts face as she reached over and squeezed the younger woman's hand. "We are so happy that you accepted." Lennon looked over to Tony who was giving her a nod. "You are who we both agreed to, we think you will do great."

Lennon smiled at the two before looking back to Me. Potts. "So, what does this mean?" She had a confused expression on her face as she watched Ms. Potts. "What does it entitle? And when would I start?"

Tony Stark let out a laugh as he stood up and walked over to the couch. "Slow down there kid." She looked up at the man who was now standing behind Ms. Potts. "We can worry about all of that Monday."

Ms. Potts stood up next to the man and gave Lennon a large smile. "Yes, we can." Lennon got up from the couch and followed them as they walked toward the door. As they reached the door, the elder woman paused and turned back to Lennon. "Have a great weekend, we will discuss terms on Monday."

Mr. Stark opened the door and allowed Ms. Potts to go first. "See you Monday." Lennon couldn't help but let the large smile grow across her face as he stepped out into the hall. But at the last second he turned around and peaked his head back in. "You might wanna get that looked at."

His nod toward her hand had brought her attention back to the cut, and almost simultaneously, the pain. He seemed to notice and shot her a smirk before closing the door.

Quickly she ran into the kitchen and began to clean up her hand. As she was drying it off she picked up the phone and called her best friend. After a few rings, the line was finally picked up. "You will never guess what just happened."


	2. The Right Choice?

Monday morning, bright and early Lennon Williams was at Stark Tower waiting in her office. She was much too nervous to wait any longer, and had showed up to work an hour earlier than she needed to.

So as the time came for the regular arrival time, people slowly began to file into the office. Lennon still sat at her large desk with her legs crossed and her fingers tapping away at rhe desk top.

It was still hard to believe that the two people running Stark Industries had chosen her to take over Ms. Potts position. She still wasn't able to quite believe that it was all real.

That is until, about eight o'clock, hurried whispers were going throughout the office and people were shuffling around to make themselves look busy. Lennon Williams could only think of one thing, or person rather, that would make the entire office nervous.

It was at the moment that he strolled into the office and plopped down in a cushioned chair in front of her desk. "Morning kiddo." Her mouth tightened and she felt herself frown. It was slightly degrading to always be called 'kid' or 'kiddo', especially when holding such a high position.

However she bit her tongue and gave the man a smile, all nervousness now gone. "Good morning Mr. Stark."

He sat up in his chair and leaned forward, giving her a look over. "See, now your outfit is appropriate." He even gave a small non commuter wave at her person.

With a short laugh she sat forward and placed her hands on the table in front of her. "Thanks for the fashion tip." She paused and he let out a laugh as he stood up and walked around the office. "Is there anything I can help you with, Mr. Stark?"

He circled the room before walking over and leaning against her desk, looking down at her. "I was actually just sent to fetch you, the lovely Ms. Potts would like to see you." His sarcastic manner made her laugh lightly as she stood up.

"Well we better not keep her waiting." Standing up, Lennon passed by the man and walked out of the office. He followed closely behind her as she walked to the elevator.

The security guard at the elevator pressed the button before turning back to the two waiting. "Good morning Mr. Stark." He just looked at the man and gave him a nod.

Lennon took the time to look back at the office. They were all trying to pretend that they were busy with work, but she knew that they were all watching. She would catch an eye here and there, but they would quickly look away.

It was beginning to make her slightly uncomfortable, for all they knew, she was being fired. Mr. Stark never came to their office. It was an oddity in itself.

The elevator dinged and Mr. Stark stepped to the side to allow Lennon to walk in first. As he stepped in the doors closed and a voice spoke over the speaker. "To the top Mr. Stark?"

Lennon's eyes went wide and her head shot up to the speaker. "Yes Jarvis." He paused and looked at the woman next to him. "Jarvis, this is Lennon Williams, she will be working with Ms. Potts."

Lennon looked over at the man and laughed lightly, this was unbelievable. Granted, he was a genius, and could have whatever toys he wanted. But she never experienced them, the rest of Stark Industries was pretty normal. "Very nice to meet you Miss Williams."

Her mouth dropped open and she didn't know how to respond. "You too." Tony let out a chuckle as the elevator stopped.

The doors opened to reveal a giant room, more like a living space, with giant glass walls looking out over the city. Lennon was in awe, nobody was allowed clearance this high.

Tony Stark stepped passed her and walked to greet Pepper Potts as she entered the room. Lennon, still looking around the large room, finally exited the elevator and was, met by Ms. Pepper.

She reached out and grasped her hand in hers with a large smile. "Good to see you Miss Williams." All she could do was nod which caused the older woman to laugh. "Why don't you come and sit, we can go over some things."

Mr. Stark kissed the woman on the head and muttered something quietly in her ear before walking off, leaving the two women alone.

Lennon followed Ms. Potts over to the large couch and sat down on the opposite side of her. The elder woman pulled a tablet off the side table and began swiping around before all the information they had on Lennon Williams pulled up.

She took a moment to look it over, leaving Lennon sitting there, feeling oddly exposed. When she looked up she gave Lennon an apologetic smile. "I apologize for that Miss Williams, that was rude of me." She then placed the tablet down in her lap and turned toward the younger woman.

Lennon gave the woman her own little smile. "Don't worry about it, comes with the job I suppose."

Ms. Potts nodded but still held the apologetic look. "It does, unfortunately taking this position will leave you with hardly any privacy." She paused and looked over in the direction Tony had gone. "Especially with him."

Both laughed at that before Lennon became serious and looked the older woman in the eye. "Not that I don't appreciate all of this," she waved her arms around before placing them back in her lap. "Its just, I'm curious as to why you chose me."

Ms. Potts let out a little laugh as she leaned back into the couch. "I didn't, actually." Lennon's mouth dropped open as she stared at the woman. "Tony chose you."

Lennon could feel her mouth pull into a frown before she could stop it. "Okay, but why?"

The smile didn't leave Ms. Potts face as she stood up and motioned for Lennon to follow. The younger woman quickly got to her feet and hurried after the woman.

And as she reached the balcony her mouth dropped open in disbelief, the view was incredible. She hadn't seen anything like this before.

Ms. Potts was leaning against the balcony over looking the city, and as Lennon came to stand next to her, she gave her a smile. "Great view, huh?" Lennon just nodded, still waiting for her answer. "Tony sees something in you Miss Williams. He has since the day you interviewed for the H.R position."

That still didn't really help answer Lennon's question, but she had the feeling that, that was all she was going to get out of her. "You can call me Lennon." She told her.

The older woman turned and gave her a friendly smile. "Only if you call me Pepper."

Lennon looked out over the city for a moment, taking in everything. Everything was going to change. She looked back at the woman and smiled. "Deal."

* * *

6 months later

Lennon was sitting at her usual bar after a long week with Dean when she had gotten a call from Tony. He had told her that he needed her to come back to the office. She of course, refused, but then he told her that it was an emergency and that they needed her immediately.

That is why she was currently walking down the busy New York street trying to push her way through the crowd going in the opposite direction. It was all push and shove until she was about a block away from the tower.

The entire crowd was stopped and looking up at the tower, where there was now a large lit up sign. "You have got to be shitting me."

She continued to shove her way through and had finally made it to the tower. After waving off the security guard she made her way to the elevator and pressed the top level.

About half way up she called for Jarvis. "Yes Miss Williams." The AI had responded.

Lennon leaned back against the wall and sighed. "This isn't the emergency that Tony was talking about, is it?"

"I don't know what you are talking about Miss Williams." Lennon rolled her eyes as she stood up from the wall and crossed her arms.

"Jarvis." She had said, in a manner almost as if someone were scolding a child.

"I'm sorry Miss Williams, I am not at liberty to speak." That was all that the AI had said before the elevator reached the top floor.

The woman just rolled her eyes as she exited the elevator, and there she found Pepper and Tony sitting next to a little table drinking some champagne. That enough, answered her question.

With a sigh she crossed over to the two and grabbed the glass that Pepper was holding out to her. "I suppose we're celebrating Tony's name in lights?" She asked with a sarcastic tone as she drank her champagne.

The man in question looked up and shot her a smirk. "My name should've been in lights long ago."

Lennon shot Pepper a look to which she just smiled before Lennon went and sat on the couch. It was then as she sat, Tony got a strange call, and only moments later there was a man in a suit was strolling in through the elevator.

Tony had said something about a security breach, and to Lennon, it was. He was a complete stranger. However it was Pepper who got up and walked over to him with a smile. "Phil."

Tony quickly got up and followed after the woman, Lennon who was still confused as to who the man was, continued to sit on the couch. The trio shot words and what not back and forth, Lennon was only able to pick up a few words here and there. Something about the Avengers, and Tony not playing well with others.

It wasn't until Tony began to walk off into another area of the room that Pepper room the chance to beckon the younger woman over. She put her glass down on the floor and walked over to the two still standing in the middle of the room.

Pepper motioned to the man in front of her before giving Lennon a smile. "Lennon, this is Phil Coulson." Lennon just gave the man a short nod, but he held his hand out to her.

She shot Pepper a look before grasping the man's hand and giving a firm shake. His facial expression never changed as he looked her in the face, "Nice to meet you Lennon."

It was then that Tony took the chance and called over to Pepper, she apologized to the two before walking over to the two. The remaining two stood awkwardly until Phil Coulson spoke. "So you work for Tony."

Lennon took a step back, realizing their close proximity and nodded. "Yeah."

The man places his hands behind his back and continued to look at the woman. She felt as if she were being judged, but he seemed like someone you shouldn't question.

Lennon was just going to try and make small talk, when all of a sudden the entire room was filled with different clips. Some were of a giant green thing, smashing different things, one of a big guy with blonde hair, and another of a man, wearing a strange suit of stars and stripes. Lennon was extremely confused. One common thing in all the clips was there was chaos, all were filled with some form of chaos.

Lennon didn't know what to think about any of it, it was all pretty crazy. She looked over to Tony and Pepper to see them speaking before Pepper started walking over to her and Phil.

She heard the two speaking about a ride and a girl, but she was having a real hard time focusing on anything other than what she had seen on Tony's screens.

The two were walking to the door, and she went to follow but Tony quickly called out to her. She turned back around to see him still standing in the same place, but now he was watching her.

Lennon sighed and walked over to the man, she had a bad feeling about all of this. As she reached him, he motioned to the clips all around them. "Do you know about any of this?"

Crossing her arms, she felt goosbumps form as she saw what looked to be a giant robot being fought by the blonde man. "No Tony, I have no idea."

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Agent Coulson is trying to recruit me to this band of misfits here." Tony motioned to the screens as he told her that.

Her stomach dropped at his words, there had to be a reason for recruiting these powerful beings. "What's going on Tony?"

Tony's head whipped around to look at her, she didn't mean for her voice to break, but she couldn't help it. "There's a bad guy here." Even in a serious situation, Tony still couldn't drop the sarcastic act. He switched the main monitor to show a man, with dark hair slicked back with a green and black outfit, he even had a cape. He held a bright blue, glowing staff.

"This is Loki, apparently." He motioned to the screen where he had just blown up a car with the glowing staff. "He's our bad guy."

Definitely. There was just an evil look to him. She sighed and looked to Tony. "Are you going to help?" He just shrugged and continued to watch the clips play. She began to step away, since he was preoccupied, "I guess I better go pack."

She had only taken a few steps when Tony called out to her. "You're not going." That had completely confused her. She was supposed to be going with Pepper to Washington.

"Why?" She was now facing the man fully, and waiting for his response.

Finally he looked away from the screen and gave her a half smile. "I'm going to need you here to help me out." Lennon was still confused, "This is big, and if anything happens, you're still technically the head of H.R."

It was finally starting to fall together. "You need me to be here to do damage control."

"Bingo." His eyes had drifted back to the screen and was taking in everything that was happening. She had seen this part of him many times while working with him. He becomes completely engrossed, borderline obsessive.

Lennon sighed and finally took her leave, it wasn't until she had reached the pavement outside that she decided to call Dean. "Hey, I'm just going to go home. I've got a busy day tomorrow."

"What, come on!" The intoxicated voice of her best friend shouted through the phone. He had been having fun without her.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later." There was no use trying to explain to him now, in his inebriated state. He wouldn't understand.

As she slowly walked the street home she thought about what she had learned. And at the time, she tried to be calm. In the world there was Tony, who was now Iron Man, why couldn't there be other worldly beings.

Such as this Loki, who was deemed the bad guy. The big green thing didn't seem too human either. It was all a little much, but when you work for Iron Man, you've got to expect things to be a little different.

The rest of her walk home was spent mulling over all that she had learned that night. She imagined that it wasn't really information that she should go spreading around, so she would have to keep it to herself.

It wasn't until she was entering her building that the thought crossed her mind if it would have just been better to have kept her previous job. Things were a whole lot less complicated, and she was able to live happily in ignorance.

* * *

Tony Stark was rushing around the woman that was perfectly comfortable sitting on his couch with a beer in her hand. He was wondering why he had even called her over, she was of no assistance.

"I don't pay you to sit on your ass and drink beer." He was on the verge of a breakdown, there weren't very many people who got to see that side of him. Previously, Pepper was the only one, but now the young woman sitting on his couch was added to the short list.

She just let out a mocking laugh and raised her hands in a mock surrender. "Whoa ho ho." She placed the beer down on the floor and stood up. "I can't make this decision for you, you jackass."

"I don't think that's how you're supposed to speak to your employer." As she approached him he glared at her. "I should fire you."

Another laugh left her lips all while giving him a pat on the shoulder and turning. "By all means, Tony."

Lennon had gone over and taken her previous place on the couch, her beer was now warm and useless to her. Warm beer is disgusting.

"Fine, I'll do it." She knew that he would. Even though Tony was an ass, he wouldn't just let the 'bad guy' stroll in and destroy things. He had a heart, well kind of.

He began rushing around and yelling things at Jarvis, and Lennon took that as her cue to leave. Sure, his extremely large home, with never ending booze was great, but she was beginning to miss home. She hardly had any time to spend there anymore.

Lennon slowly put one foot in front of the other, trying to make her way to the elevator without being noticed. She had made it to the elevator and tried to press the button, but it wouldn't open.

"I'm sorry Miss Williams, but I've been told not to let you leave the building until further notice." Oh that ass.

She was definitely going to be needing another drink. Lennon stormed over to the island that held Stark's booze as she pulled out her cellphone. His number was her fourth contact, and was used quite often.

Lennon was pouring her Rum when he picked up. She could hear air whooshing on the other side. "Why am I being held captive in your home?" Her calm voice asked as she took a sip.

"Well, you see." He let out a little yelp, "Bird." That must have been explanation for the tell. "I need you to be at the tower just in case there is anything I need."

There was nothing he would need, he had the suit. "Tony, I like you, but you are stretching my patience my friend." She literally had no life anymore.

"I know." He was silent for a moment. "How about a bonus, or a raise. You like money right?"

She couldn't help the laugh that escaped. "Better be a good one too. No five cent shit."

His own chuckle could be heard through the line as she walked back over to the couch. "You got it." He paused for a moment and she thought he hung up. "The guest room is set up, and call Pep, give her the update. I gotta go." And with that the line went dead, and she was sitting on the couch, in Tony Stark's extravagant Tower, all alone.

With another sigh Lennon picked up her feet and placed them on the couch, slowly sipping her drink. She took a few moments to herself before she called Pepper and gave her the news.

Pepper was like her, she knew that he would do it too. She had also told her how everything else was going back home, there was still a lot of buzz in the streets about the new addition to Stark Tower, meaning the large 'Stark' that was now lit up on the side of the building.

And Pepper had told her of all that was going on in Washington. Pepper was trying to downplay the whole thing, but she knew it was a pretty big deal. Or at least it would have been. Pepper was going to give Lennon her shot, and let her run the meeting in Washington. But when Tony requested that she stayed, she did.

Pepper tried to tell her that she could have the next one, but with all that was going on now. Meaning the invasion by Loki, she doubted that she would. Whenever Iron Man came out, it was a big ordeal with the press, and that required Pepper's handling.

After going over a few things and Lennon helping Pepper work out a few kinks in her speech, they decided to call it a night. Talking to Pepper had helped calm Lennon's anxiousness, anxiousness she didn't even know she had until it was gone.

Again it went back to Tony, sure he was an old sarcastic ass, but she didn't want him die. She really enjoyed his and Pepper's company. And although she always complained about having no life anymore, she had to be honest with herself. She hardly had one to begin with, Dean was her only actual friend.

So yes, even though she always let the thought of what would have happened if she didn't take the promotion roll around in her head, she knew one thing for sure. She definitely made the right choice, Pepper and Tony were great, she got to chill in the top of the tower, great booze, and the fat paycheck was pretty nice.

Downing the rest of her drink, she placed the empty glass next to the warm beer and stood up, stretching her arms up over her head.

As she slowly padded down the hallway to the guest room she remembered that she wasn't completely alone. "Goodnight Jarvis."

"Goodnight Miss Williams. Pleasant dreams." She let the smile slip onto her face and continued until she reached the room.

Inside she flopped onto the bed, and didn't move, within seconds she was out. Her last thoughts being that even though Jarvis wasn't a person, it was still nice to have pleasant wishes wished upon you, and she did, have pleasant dreams that is.


	3. House Arrest

With both Pepper and Tony gone that didn't leave much for Lennon to do. Yes, she had noticed that her life was revolving around them a bit more, but she didn't realize just how much until they weren't there, leaving her with nothing to do.

She still wasn't allowed to leave the building yet either. Apparently Jarvis' orders were to keep her in the building until either Tony or Pepper got back, and she was getting pretty Damn tired of being trapped.

So without Tony or Pepper there to give her any direction she decided that she would go down and check out her old office. Tony didn't advertise her job, so it was currently unfilled, he had told her that they would manage.b

She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Because to her, it made it sound like her job wasn't that important, and when she asked him, he quickly diverted the question.

Lennon was now currently standing in the elevator, alone, waiting to stop on the floor that held the Human Resource Department.

Her skirt couldn't have been any smoother. The last couple of levels before were spent wiping out any wrinkles that may have been left by Jarvis. And yes, Jarvis. Apparently Tony had him press all his clothes.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened, allowing Lennon to exit. She had barely stepped outside the elevator when all eyes in the office had turned towards her.

It was understandable, she had only been in the office once since Tony had made her Pepper's assistant. Or well, Pepper's very far future, replacement.

Putting one foot in front of the other, she held her head high and walked through the room. She could hear all the whispers, but she chose to ignore them. The rumors that they had surely come up with were something she could live without hearing.

Her office was still the exact same, except for the few items that she had taken with her to the top of the tower. Lennon wasn't even in her office for five minutes, when there was a knock on her door.

She had left it open to allow her to see people coming, but was too preoccupied with looking through the hundreds of emails she had to see someone coming.

It was a woman from the office. Her name was Susan, and Lennon had probably only spoken to her a handful of times the whole time she had worked for Stark Industries.

She sat back from the desk and motioned for her to come in. The young woman quickly walked in and didn't even wait for the offer before plopping herself down in the chair on the other side of the desk.

It was a little forward, given that most people wait for an offer. However, Lennon chose to ignore it and plastered on a smile, she could feel how forced it was. "Can I help you with something?"

Susan scooted forward in her seat and put her elbows on Lennon's desk. She felt her hands clench and sighed, she knew from there this wasn't going to be an enjoyable conversation.

"I just wanted to know what it is like." Lennon knew what she was talking about, but chose to play dumb and asked her anyway. She had actually hoped that she would give up, but of course, she didn't. "What it's like working with Tony Stark?"

Another sigh left Lennon's mouth and she sat up straight in her chair, looking Susan in the eye. "I don't work with Mr. Stark." Susan's face fell a little, but she pushed on. "I work with Ms. Potts, and Mr. Stark is my employer. Just like you."

Her tone was very professional, but she could feel the irritation building up, along with a headache. She really didn't like unprofessionalism.

Sure, she had lied, she worked an unfortunate amount of time with Tony, and he was quite annoying most of it.

"Is that all?" Her tone was still professional, but there was now a tightness that she was sure the woman couldn't have missed.

Susan didn't even move from her position and what she could only describe as a sly grin crossed the woman's face. "I had actually heard of something I wanted to ask you." Lennon really didn't want to hear whatever it was she had to say, but she continued before she could stop her. "I heard that Mr. Stark was leaving Ms. Potts for you, that's why you're staying at his place and she is gone."

Lennon had expected to hear something ridiculous come out of Susan's mouth, but that was just way too out of line, and even more ridiculous she had thought.

If course the office was going to spread rumors about her, but those were just ridiculous and uncalled for. And how did she even know that she was staying there, that Pepper was gone?

The fake smile she was trying to hold was long gone, and she was surely glaring at the woman across from her now. Lennon stood up from the chair and walked over to the door, pulling it open even further.

A shocked expression was on Susan's face but Lennon ignored it. The woman still hadn't moved so Lennon rolled her eyes. "This conversation is over, I don't know who told you such outlandish lies, but this is not the appropriate time to be discussing such things."

Susan quickly stood up from the chair and rushed over to her. "I am so sorry Miss Williams, I didn't mean any offense. I didn't mean to make you sound like a home wrecker."

Lennon scoffed and shook her head at the woman. Susan's mouth dropped open and she covered her mouth with her hand. "I think it's time you leave my office Susan."

Susan just nodded her head and rushed out of the room as fast as she could. Groaning, Lennon closed her door this time and went back over to her desk.

She began going through the emails again, but it was hard for her to focus. She couldn't believe that those were the sort of rumors that were going through the office.

Lennon couldn't even stop herself from thinking about it. So what better thing to do than get more information. She sighed, stood up from the desk, and crossed the room before throwing the door open. "Anita!"

Ten seconds was all it took for the woman to come bustling across the room and into her office. Lennon shut the door behind her and crossed to sit back down at her desk.

Anita stood in front of her and waited for her to speak. "Please sit down Anita." She motioned to the chair and the older woman slowly lowered herself into it. That was what a polite person would do, and she allowed a real smile to cross her face. "I have a few questions to ask you, if that's okay."

Anita quickly nodded and placed her hands in her lap, "Of course Miss Williams." She smiled at her and crossed her legs.

She looked tired, Lennon noticed. Which was to be expected, she was getting older. "Well firstly I would like to discuss the rumors that are going around, I assume you know of which I'm speaking of."

Anita's smile dropped and her shoulders even drooped, "Yes Miss Williams. I do."

Lennon gave her a smile and say forward in her desk. "What information can you give me?" Anita's face contorted into a look of confusion, "As to how these rumors started."

"Oh." The older woman let out a sigh and Lennon noticed her hands clench slightly. "I really try not to listen to the gossip these people talk about, but this mornings was a little hard not to."

"And what was this mornings?" Lennon urged the woman to continue.

An uncomfortable look came over Anita's face, but she sighed anyway. "It was said that Ms. Potts had left a couple nights ago." She paused and Lennon nodded, well that part was true. "They said that she left, and that you moved in."

Lennon's eyes rolled before she could stop herself. Of course, it wasn't anything different from what Susan said, but it coming from Anita made it that much more real. "Do you know who started this rumor?"

The uncomfortable look came back and Lennon waited patiently. "It was the security." Of course it was, they were the only ones still here when all of that happened. "I don't believe them."

Anita was looking Lennon straight in the face, and she knew she was telling the truth. She let a large smile cross her face, "Thank you Anita."

"Is that everything Miss Williams?" She nodded and the older woman stood up and started walking to the door. She paused at the door and turned back. "I've missed you around here Miss Williams."

The smile on Lennon's face widened and she gave a slight nod. "I missed you too Anita." The older woman grinned and slipped out of the office, going back into the busy room outside.

Flopping back in the office chair Lennon let out a loud groan before picking up the phone. She quickly dialed Stark's number, and he picked up after the third ring. "Hey Kiddo."

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me kiddo?" The tightness in her voice was definitely still present. Understandable from the bits of gossip she was just filled in on.

Tony could be heard humming into the phone. "Probably another two hundred and thirty seven times, then I should get it." Rolling her eyes she leaned back and kicked her feet up on the desk. "There something you need? Kinda saving the world here, you know."

A scoff left the woman's mouth, "Yeah sure." She cleared her throat and thought of how she would approach the subject. "There's rumors going around H.R." Just dive right in.

"What kind of rumors?" He sounded distracted and Lennon could sense that she barely had his attention.

"Apparently I'm a major home wrecker." Her voice was so right at this point, trying to keep in her anger that it hurt. Tony was silent on his end. "Well?"

"Home wrecker." The tone in his voice was thoughtful. "And who are you home wrecking?" There was some movement and talking could be heard in the background. "Yeah just a minute." He said to someone else.

"You and Pepper."

It was silent for another moment before a, "Huh." Lennon let out a loud groan in anger so Tony continued, "Who's the starter of these rumors, and how did they come up with that?"

"It came from your security." A small chuckle came from the man, "It's not funny Tony. Everyone's definitely thinking I'm not legit now."

"Well you are legit." He paused. "And Pepper and I know you're legit."

"I know Tony, but I still don't want people thinking that I'm breaking up you and Pepper." Lennon was now messing with her hair, and she knew it had to be a mess.

An over exaggerated groan was heard from the man. "Well then fire all security then, start new."

"I don't want them all fired!" Lennon screeched into the line.

"Well what do you want me to do?" Tony was definitely exasperated by now, the woman was driving him crazy with her ridiculous problems. "Handle it however you want to handle it, you're in charge right now."

"Tony!" She sighed and calmed herself down. "I'm not going to fire anyone, I guess everything will get resolved once you and Pepper are back."

"Sure." He didn't sound too sure but that was Tony for you, the sarcastic ass who is of no help. "Wanna hear how my time has been with this ultra band of misfits?"

"Sure Tony." She didn't really, but she had the feeling that he needed to let things out.

"So first, I caught the maniac, and then he was stolen." Lennon let out a little screech, questioning what he had said, but he just shushed her. "We caught him, again. And he is contained."

"You could have left all the rest out, I didn't need the details." She paused and thought about it. "So what's going to happen with him? Jail or whatever they do wherever he's from?"

"Eh, we've still got to get something back from him before he can get locked away."

Lennon's brows furrowed together and she began to tap her foot. "Why haven't you taken it yet?"

She could hear a humorless chuckle come from him, "If I could have just taken it from him I would be home already." There was a shout from the other side of the phone before Tony hollered back. "Yes Star Spangled Banner, I'm almost done." He lowered his voice and spoke to her again. "We better wrap this up, The Cap is about to blow a tube."

Lennon couldn't help but laugh, Tony was always managing to bother someone, she was just glad that it wasn't her this time. "Well you seem pretty busy, I better let you go."

A loud groan came from the other line and she heard Tony yell something at someone, but it was muffled. "Yeah, yeah, I'll talk to you later kiddo." And the line went dead. There was just silence, and she waited, for what, she didn't know. But she felt alone.

* * *

"Yes, Pepper. He's fine." Lennon sighed as she laid back on the bed in the guestroom. She had thought maybe Tony would give up and allow her to leave, but it was still a no go.

This was the same conversation she had been having with Pepper for the last half hour. Apparently Tony hadn't contacted her at all, leaving her with absolutely no knowledge of what was going on. So Lennon filled her in on the very little bit she knew, and from what she knew, he was alive and well.

"I just hate this." Lennon could practically see the older woman pacing on the other side of the phone. "He knows I don't like it when he doesn't give me updates. So they caught the guy?"

"Yes Pepper, they caught him." She told the woman for the third time. She obviously was losing it, and that ladies and gents, is why she chose to be single. Well that, and she has no life outside of work.

"Well, the meetings are going well, I will be back tomorrow." Lennon let a smile come to her face, she could hear the panic still, but she was beginning to calm down. "How are you holding up? No one's giving you trouble?"

"No, everything's good here." The whole rumor fiasco was something that she decided Pepper didn't need to hear, especially since she was choosing to do nothing about it, "I would like to be able to see some of my friends though."

"Dean could come see you there." Pepper told her and she groaned. She was trying to get Pepper to let her out, but that wasn't going to happen. "I'm sorry Len, if I could get Tony to listen to me. I would."

Lennon knew that, but it was worth a shot. "Thanks."

"Miss Williams." The voice rang out above her, so she looked up at the ceiling and waited. "Your pizza has arrived, it is in the lobby."

"Thank you Jarvis." Lennon stood up and stretched her hands above her head. "My food is here Pepper, I got to go." She could sense the woman going to say something, so she continued. "Tony is fine, go sit by the pool, relax. Everything is fine Pep."

Lennon stopped at the door and waited for Pepper to respond. "Thank you Lennon, for everything."

"No problem, I'll talk to you later." Before she could say anything else, Lennon ended the call and tossed her phone to the bed. She then turned back and pried the door open, making her way into the main room.

There she grabbed her clutch off the end table and got into the elevator. It was a pretty long trip down to the main level, and it seemed even more long with her stomach growling in hunger.

She hardly waited for the doors to open before she squeezed out of the elevator and marched right passed the security. She may not do anything about the rumors, but that didn't mean she was going to just forgive and forget.

The teenaged delivery boy was waiting at the front desk, next to the night time security manager. "Good evening Miss Williams." The man said with a large smile as she walked the distance between them. "I assume that this pizza is for you."

"It is Raoul." She told The man with a smile, just because she was mad at some security, didn't mean she was mad at all. Especially Raoul, he was such a sweet heart. "Would you like a slice? I can't eat it all myself."

"Oh, no thank you Miss Williams. I wouldn't dare take food from you." The easy grin slid into his face and she couldn't help but give one back.

"How much?" She asked the boy as she opened her clutch and dug around. The boy didn't seem in a hurry from the way he was gazing around the room. Most people weren't allowed in without a badge, so she could understand. "Cool huh?"

The boy instantly snapped out of it and his face became red as he looked down at the receipt. "It'll be fourteen fifty three."

She woman laughed and pulled out a twenty, handing it over to the flustered teenager. "Go ahead and keep the change." He handed her The box along with . little bag and gave her a large smile, and with his face still red he quickly walked out of the building.

She gave another small laugh before turning back to Raoul. "How's your evening Raoul?" Popping the lid open she grabbed a large slice and began eating right there.

The man watched her as she took a bite, "No complaints, pretty quiet evening here at the tower." He continued to eye her as she took another bite.

Swallowing the large bite she grinned, "Well that's good." She pulled out a few napkins from the bag and put them on the counter next to Raoul. "I know you said no, but I insist." Grabbing a couple slices of pizza she placed them on the napkin.

"Thank you Miss Williams." The man said as he pulled the slices over to himself. "I had actually forgotten to pack my dinner tonight."

Smiling at the man Lennon closed the lid before picking up the box, "No problem, you're actually helping me out." She held the box in one arm and picked up the bag with the other. "Have a good evening Raoul."

"You as well, Miss Williams." When she stepped into the elevator and looked back Raoul was already digging into his food. The security guard next to the elevator tried smiling at Lennon, but she turned away and chose to ignore him.

Lennon waited until she was back in the guest room before she had another slice. She put everything on the bed and climbed up to the head of the bed, pulling everything with her.

She had just pulled out another slice when she noticed her phone flashing, signaling that she had missed a call.

Reaching back down to the door of the bed she picked it up and checked the screen, it was Dean. "Of course." So she pressed the call back and put the phone between her ear and shoulder and continued eating. "What do you want?"

She didn't even wait for him to say anything before her question came spewing out. "Jesus, I just miss you." He said back to her with a scoff. "But I can see that the feeling is not mutual."

Lennon put down her slice of pizza and leaned back against the wall. "I'm sorry, I have no reason to be pissed at you." A few moments passed in which he chose to be silent for once. "And I do miss you too."

"There we go!" He exclaimed with a laugh. "That's all I wanted to hear you say." With a roll of her eyes Lennon picked up her pizza and started eating again. "When am I going to see you?"

"As soon as Tony gets back and let's me off house arrest." It wasn't technically house arrest, but it sure felt like it, especially since she couldn't even step outside of the building. She decided then, that she was going to take a couple days off when he got back. "Let's go somewhere this weekend, a trip."

"Where to my sweet?" That had gotten his attention. She could just see him sitting up and waiting for her answer. She really did miss him.

"I don't know, but out of the city." She sighed and picked up the box of pizza before placing it on the bedside table. She then pulled back the blankets and slid in. "I just want to get away."

His chuckle went through the phone and she smiled. "Whatever you want to do Len, I'm down." Lennon smiled to herself and snuggled deeper into the bed. "So tell me about Tony Stark's amazing living space."

Lennon let out another laugh and proceeded to tell him all about it, and even went on to tell him some things about Pepper and Tony. She really hadn't been able to spend as much time with him as she usally did, and she was worried that it was taking a roll on their friendship.

But after that conversation, and their plans for the weekend made, she knew that nothing would come between them. And she was incredibly grateful for such an amazing friend.


	4. The War Begins

"Angela, can you take these folders to Rebecca and have her email me with any questions?" Lennon asked as she picked up a large stack of folders and walked them over to the elder woman.

Angela grabbed them out of her hands and gave her a nod with a smile firmly in place, "Of course, Miss Williams."

Lennon hadnt realized how much she missed her old job until she actually say down and did it again. It was familiar, and brought back good feelings to her. With it being her first actual job, there was some sentimental value with it.

Lennon had spent the night before talking to Dean until a late hour, and it was nice. The conversation made her feel good knowing that even though she hadn't been able to give Dean a lot of attention, that their friendship was still strong.

Everything was going well for Lennon that day, and she was in high spirits. There's was nothing that could ruin that day, not even Susan.

"Miss Williams, I would just like to say I'm sorry, again." Lennon resisted rolling her eyes as she looked up from her computer screen to the woman standing just insider her door. "I was just telling you what I had heard, and I was just curious."

"Susan, once again, this is not the time or place to be talking about this." Lennon was really considering the no firing rule that she told herself. "And your apology is accepted, now please get back to work." The apology wasn't really, but she just wanted the woman to leave her alone.

Susan, not really known to be the brightest bulb pushed forward with what Lennon assumed was supposed to be a charming smile. "So there really is nothing going on between you and Tony Stark."

Lennon's head snapped up and she shot the woman a nasty glare, there was no more playing nice. "Susan, I want you to grab your things and take the day off."

The woman's mouth dropped opened and she quickly took a few steps closer to the desk. "No, please. I'm sorry. I'm just-"

Lennon had cut her off and was holding her hand up, not wanting to hear another word out of the woman's mouth. "No, I don't want any excuse, I just need you to go for the day. Your job will still be here for you tomorrow."

Susan, with her shoulders slumped in defeat slowly made her way out of the office. Lennon let out a large groan and placed her head in her hands as soon as she knew she was out of war shot. She really didn't want to do that, but had become extremely frustrated with the woman.

It was only eleven o'clock in the morning, and she felt the need for a shot of Jack. With another loud sigh she began her work again.

* * *

"I feel bad." Lennon said into the phone as she placed her head in her hand and watched people move about through the open office door.

"From what you've told me, you should have fired her." Lennon had finally told Pepper all that had gone on with Susan and how she had snapped.

But apparently Pepper agreed with Tony, that Susan should have been fired. And the only reason she'd even decided to speak with her was that she couldn't get through to Tony.

"What's her last name? I'll speak with her when I get back." Pepper, as confident and strong as she was, still had her insecurities. And sad much as she tried to hide it, Tony was her biggest.

Lennon once again sighed and turned around to look out the large window. "It was more annoying than anything."

"It was incredibly unprofessional." Pepper snapped back through the phone. The anger could be heard clearly in her clipped tones. "I'm sorry that you were left to deal with everything."

The response she got was a laugh from the younger woman. "If I can't handle one woman's stupid questions there's no way I could be your future relief."

Silence was all that Lennon got through the phone before Pepper allowed herself a quiet laugh. "I suppose so." Lennon pushed her hair back and leaned further back in her seat as she heard pepper talk to someone on the other side of the phone "I have to go Lennon, I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight." It had barely left her lips when she heard the line go dead. Suppose when you run a company for so long you kind of lose the goodbye pleasantries. Or it may have been that they were more like friends than business co-workers.

* * *

Lunch, that is what Lennon had decided she would do to calm herself and get her mind off of what she had done. So as she got up and walked out of her office she began dialing Dean's number.

As she walked through the room all eyes were on her, by now there had to have been at least ten different versions of what had happened between her and Susan.

She tried her best to ignore it and had done really well. Holding her head high, she crossed the room and entered the elevator, ignoring all of the looks she was receiving. In the elevator she told Dean to meet her at the diner the block down from Stark Tower and hung up, not leaving any room for him to protest.

It wasn't until she was out of the building and halfway down the block when she received a text from him, saying he would be there in two minutes.

When Lennon sat down her phone began to ring, and Tony Stark's face flashed across the screen. With a roll her her eyes she pressed the ignore button and went back to looking at the menu.

It was another thirty seconds before her phone began to ring again, Tony's face once again flashing. As she picked the phone up, Dean flopped down in the seat across from her, so she pressed ignore again and tossed the phone in her purse.

He had barely flopped down in the chair across from her when he groaned loudly, "Today sucks."

Lennon laughed and pushed her iced tea over for him to take a drink. "I agree." Dean took a large drink out of her glass and then slid it back across the table. "You first."

"You remember Jessica, right?" She did. She was a nice woman. She was probably a couple years older than her, extremely nice, and had a kid. Lennon nodded. "So, she nice, and my co-worker, and she asked me out to dinner tonight."

Lennon choked on her tea and looked up at the man across from her with a raised eyebrow. "You have a strict no dating co-workers rule though."

He nodded. "I do, and I don't want to go out with her anyway."

Lennon's shoulders relaxed and she let out a laugh. "Oh, so you told her no."

Lennon was looking at her menu, and when she looked up, he was trying not to make eye contact. "Not exactly."

She scoffed and continued to state at him until he finally looked at her. "So you told her yes."

Dean let out a loud groan and placed his head in his hands. "Yes and it was stupid of me." Lennon just nodded and waiting for him to continue. "She's just so nice, I didn't want to hurt her feelings or reject her."

"So you're going to wait until after your nice date, and she falls totally in love with you." Lennon picked up her tea and took another sip.

"Well, when you put it like that it makes me feel like an ass." Lennon's phone was ringing for what seems like the tenth time. "Who keeps calling you?"

"Tony." Lennon said as she picked up the phone. "I should probably take this." Standing up she walked over to a corner of the room and called him back.

"Where the hell are you?" Was the first thing that came from Tony's mouth. "I don't really care, you need to evacuate the building, right now."

Lennon's eyebrows furrowed together and she scowled. "Why?"

"Okay, remember that bad guy that I was talking about before?" Her head was nodded before she realized that he wouldn't be able to see her. "He's on top of the tower, building some sort of portal or something."

Lennon was extremely confused, but as soon as he told her that he was on the tower she was began gathering all of her things and motioning for Dean to follow. "Okay, I'll get everyone out. Where are you?"

"On my way to the tower." It was then when she realized that there was the sound of wind and almost what sounded like the backfire of a vehicle. "Just make sure you have everyone out, and take care of yourself too."

"I will," She grabbed Dean's hand with hers and began hauling him down the street behind her, as fast as she could go in a pencil skirt and high heels. "Be safe Tony."

"Always kiddo," and then he hung up on her. She dropped the phone into her purse and kept going.

"Where are you taking me?" Lennon just gripped his hand tighter and pulled him even faster, almost going into a jog. "You're freaking me out Len."

Shoving the large doors open, Lennon went straight to the front desk where the head of security was standing. "I need you to get everyone out of the building " She told him quickly and looked around the room where there had to be at least twenty people standing around.

"Why would I do that?" He asked the younger woman with a raised eyebrow. "I only take orders like that from Tony Stark, or Ms. Potts."

Lennon was quickly losing her patience, this was not something that she could be dealing with. There was a crazed bad guy, who wanted to take over the world on the roof. "This is a direct order from Stark, and he would not be pleased with you not following his order." He still didn't seem to be convinced. "If you're not going to take my word I will call him, but he will not be pleased at all."

The man finally took a couple steps back from the desk and lifted his radio to his mouth before telling the rest of security that the building needed to be evacuated. "This better be an order from Stark."

Lennon quickly grabbed Dean's arm and drug him to the elevator behind her. She had a feeling that the security wasn't going to be in too much of a hurry, so she was going to take it into her own hands.

As they entered she pressed the button that would bring her to the top level. "I'm sorry Miss Williams, Mr. Stark has told me not to let you up to the top floor."

The voice shocked Dean and he began looking around the elevator, trying to find where the voice had come from. "That's fine Jarvis, I need you to help me out though."

She looked over at the man next to her, who was standing and just watching her. She could practically hear all the questions that he wanted to ask. "Of course Miss Williams, whatever you need."

She then pressed the floor to H.R before stressing Jarvis. "I need you to set off all of the fire alarms on all of the floors." She looked at the man next to her and gave an apologetic smile. "I need everyone out of the building as soon as possible."

"Of course Miss Williams." It was only a few seconds later when the alarms began going off and lights were flashing. "Anything else?"

"No, thank you Jarvis." Dean was standing against the wall, staring at Lennon, waiting for an explanation. "Tony called and said we need to evacuate everyone from the building."

"I got that part." He told her as he crossed his arms. "I want to why you drug me in here to evacuate all these people." He stopped and waited for an answer from the woman, but she didn't know how to answer that.

Sensing her hesitation he stepped forward and placed his hands on her upper arms, looking her straight in the face. "There's a man from another planet on the roof trying to take over the world."

Lennon quietly stared him in the face, waiting for him to say something. He looked like he was going to laugh at her, but when he noticed her somber expression his faced dropped and he let out a large sigh. "You're not joking, are you?" it wasn't really a question, but she shook her head anyway.

Stepping away from him, his arms fell to his side's and she gave him as apologetic look. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, but you were already with me. Tony called me while were at the diner."

"I knew that I never liked you working for him, nothing good would come from him." She knew he was just upset about the situation, so she chose to ignore what he was saying. And it was the perfect time for the elevator to reach their destination.

There were a few different things going on as the doors to the elevator opened. First was the most obvious, being that the majority of the people were grabbing their things and leaving the room.

The next thing she noticed was that there were some people who looked to be completely disregarding the alarm and were still sitting at their desks doing work. That is the thing that really seemed to get to her, these people were risking their lives just to do a little more paperwork.

The last thing was that Susan was in the corner of the room, and she was talking to a man who couldn't be too much older than Lennon. The first emotion that came to her, was anger, of course. But then she realized that she really needed to just focus on getting everyone evacuated and to safety.

Making her decision she went for the ones who were still doing work. She hoped that Susan would realize that she was there and leave on her own. Dean followed behind her closely and stayed silent as she approached the two still working away on the computers.

"You need to leave, immediately," Dean stepped up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

One man, who she remembered as a Pete looked up at her for a moment before looking back to the screen. "This is important, I'm not going to leave for a fire drill."

The anger began to seep in with his response. "This is not a drill, you need to leave now." The man just rolled his eyes at her so she looked to the other, who was trying hard to not make eye contact.

With a groan she loudly called out to Jarvis, hoping that she would get a response. She had never needing him anywhere but the elevator or top level before, so she wasn't sure if he would answer.

The man at the desk was watching her with a strange look before the AI answered and a look of shock passed over his face before she addressed Jarvis. "I need you to shut off all power to this level."

Dean once again stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Right away Miss Williams." Looking over to Pete she saw the panic cross his face before the power shut off, and his screen went blank.

The other person next to him didn't seem to care too much, but Pete looked like he was ready to explode. He glared at Lennon before his eyes slowly shifted to Dean standing behind her with a protective hand on her shoulder.

Deciding to go with better judgment, he picked up his bag and stomped off towards the stairs with his silent companion following right behind him. Lennon reached up and placed a hand over the one on her shoulder. "This is why I needed you."

In the corner of the room, Susan and the man were still standing, not moving a muscle. And Susan looked to have had a defiant glare on her face. This wasn't going to be easy.

Lennon hasn't even made it all the way over before Susan snapped at her. "I don't think that it was fair of you to send me home today, I was only asking you questions and telling you what I had heard. Just because you didn't like that everyone knew your secret didn't mean you had to make me leave."

Dean and Lennon had already spoken of the Susan situation, so when she heard him groan, she knew that he understood what was going on. "Susan, now is not the time to be talking about this. This is an emergency situation and we need to leave this building, immediately."

"I'm not leaving until we discuss this." Her tone had risen and she looked a little hysterical. Lennon stepped closer and Susan did just as fast, leaving only two steps between them. "What you did was not fair, and besides, you're not even my boss."

With a loud groan she looked over to Dean and gave him a nod towards the man. Then he turned and addressed the man whose name she could not remember. "Could you help me out please, and show my friend Dean here how to get out of the building."

The man looked to Susan and she stepped forward leaving very little space between them. "He doesn't have to listen to you, you're not his boss,"

Lennon couldn't help the eye roll that happened and looked back at Dean for a moment. "Actually, I am. Tony has left me in charge being directly in charge of everything. He has given me permission to use any means necessary, including letting people go."

The man looked like he was taking what she said into consideration, and he must have taken her vague threat seriously. "You can follow me."

Dean took a step forward and placed his hand on her arm. "I hope you know what you're doing Len." She gave him a small smile with a nod. He then leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "Hurry, and don't do anything stupid."

She scoffed at him and gave him a slight push towards the nameless man. She watched them until they disappeared through the door that led to the stairwell.

Slowly she turned to Susan, who looked like she was a teenager pouting, the way she had her arms crossed and her lips pushed out. "Susan, I know you wish to discuss this, but now is really not the time, or if you really feel we must, let's discuss this out of the building." Susan didn't seem to budge. "I'll even take you to lunch."

"You can't bribe me to stop." Lennon was beginning to realize that. "Just tell me why, why did Tony Stark choose you?"

Her voice went quiet and Lennon saw the look of defeat on her face. She looked like she had just lost the thing that meant most to her in the world. And that's when Lennon realised why she was pushing so hard to know about her and Tony. She was in love with him.

In that moment, Lennon felt sympathy for the broken woman in front of her, and just as she reached for her, the sound of broken glass went throughout the room, and a large ugly, inhuman like creature came rolling into the room.

The creature jumped up, and before either of the women could do anything It pulled a gun off it's back and took aim at them. Lennon saw it before Susan, and tried to reach out for her, but it was too late.

It shot, and a bright blue light shot out and hit Susan square in the chest. Lennon watched as she was flung back and onto the floor right in front of her. Her eyes were wide in fright, and she was completely lifeless.

Lennon couldn't move for a moment, all she could see were those lifeless eyes. And then everything came back, she felt warmth over her arms and face, and taking a second to look down she saw blood splatters across her front.

And then there was another bright blue light, this one just barely missing her and blasting a hole into the wall behind her. She looked up and the creature was taking aim again. Not wasting anymore time she took off sprinting for the door to the stairwell.

Behind her the creature was chasing her. She had barely pulled the door open and stepped in when another blast hit the door and sent her flying down the first flight of steps.

Pain went tearing through her body, and she could feel a warm liquid begin to run down her back. But She also knew that the creature would be right behind her. She ripped off her heels and jumped back up and began running as fast and she could.

While running she barely noticed that her skirt had ripped up the side, allowing her a much larger stride. It must have been a record breaking run down the stairs, and the whole time the creature was right behind her firing it's gun.

When she finally hit the bottom of the stairs she pushed herself even harder and slammed the door open, not slowing down a bit.

The lobby was empty, but through the large glass windows she could see the madness going on outside. There Had to be at least twenty more of the same creatures running around just in front of the building.

She didn't have much of a choice though. Not slowing at all, she ran right out the doors and pushed herself as fast as she could down the street.

Lennon tried not to focus on anything around her, but about half a block down the street she noticed the man that was supposed to show Dean the way out of the building, and he was trying to hide behind a large piece of cinder broken off the building next to him.

Lennon quickly cut off the course she was taking and ran straight for the man. He was hunched down and the fear shown clearly on his face. As she reached him, she saw him as he noticed her and watched his face drop when he saw that Susan wasn't with her.

There was no time for that right now, and he knew it. A look of determination quickly became plastered on his face when see came to stand in front of him. "Where's Dean?"

He shrugged his shoulders before pointing in the direction that she was heading previously. "All I know is he went that way before all of this started."

Lennon nodded and took off in the direction he had pointed. She didn't know where she was going, or what she was going to find. All she knew was that she needed to keep moving, and try to find Dean.

Turning the corner of the street that the man pointed, she came face to face with one of the ugly creatures. In a quick decision, she launched herself at the creature in a last ditch effort and closed her eyes as she felt her head smash into it's hard body.

A large bright light flashed behind her closed lids and she felt the air get knocked out of her. In the tackle, she had somehow gotten flipped around, and she was lying in her back and the creature was standing over her.

She was going to die. This was going to be her last moment in this world, and it was looking into the ugly face of a creature from another planet.

The creature raised it's gun and took aim. Lennon quickly closed her eyes and turned her head away, waiting for the blast to hit.


	5. The End of the Battle

Lennon heard the blast from the gun, and waited for the impact, but it never came. The blast rang out, and sounded like it hit something solid.

When the blast didn't hit, her eyes flew open, and a man in a red, white, and blue uniform was hunched over her with a shield held out in front of him.

He quickly jumped up and knocked the creature back with the shield before coming down on top of it and repeatedly bashing it's head in.

Lennon took those few moments to scramble back from them and get to her feet. Her body was beginning to ache horribly, but that wasn't something she could focus on right now.

What she needed to do was find a way to safety. The man in the uniform turned to her a few moments later after the creature was no longer moving and grabbed her arm. "Follow me."

He didn't leave any room for argument, not that she would have anyway. The man hauled her behind him as he ran down the street. It was hard for her to keep up, her body ached and her lungs burned. But there was no time to stop.

Both of their heads were turning from side to side as they ran, making sure that nothing was going to sneak up on them. They ran about a block when they came upon a couple of the creatures who had a family, including two children backed into a corner with their guns held out in front of them, ready to fire.

Lennon felt the man hesitate as he noticed as well. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and shoved him in their direction. "Go!" She had to shout to be heard over the loud commotion of the disaster going on around them.

He once again hesitated, not knowing what to do, so she gave him another push and then kept running the way that they already were.

The chaos surrounded her. The buildings were destroyed, cars were burnt up, and there were people lying all over the street. It was really the most terrifying thing that the planet had ever witnessed, and she had to be right in the center of It.

She really hoped that Tony was taking care of himself and that Pepper wasn't back yet. She didn't want anyone else she cared about being affected by this. She still hadn't been able to find Dean.

As she ran closer to Stark Tower she began to see more and more of the creatures all over. It was just when she was beginning to step out from behind a building she heard a huge roar come from behind her. She had just barely stepped out of the way when a large, green body came charging out and took on a large amount of the creatures.

She watched as an opening was made in the street and took her chance. As soon as she saw the large, green beast take out another large group of creatures she ran for it. She made it about halfway across the street when another creature ran out and grabbed her arm.

Immediately she tried to fling it off, but it was much stronger. She fought with the creature for a moment before it went limp and it dropped to her feet with an arrow embedded in the back of it's neck.

Just as she went to run the rest of the way down the street a hand grabbed the back of her shirt and hauled her back, and just in time. She was barely pulled back as the green beast went running in front of her, just narrowly missing.

Whipping around she found the man in the red, white, and blue suit standing there with his hand still on her shoulder. His head was turning in every direction and his shield was held out, waiting to be struck.

He gripped her shoulder a little bit harder and started running, leaving her with no choice but to stay by his side. "This way." He quickly dove off to the right and hauled them into an alleyway. He let go of her shoulder before saying something, but it wasn't meant for her from the way his head was turned and he was looking out into the street.

Just then a ginormous whale like creature went flying by In the street. It was so large that it took up the entire street, and would smash into the buildings in some areas. There was no way that they could take that down.

"I need you to stay here." He was no longer looking out into the street. His eyes were now focused on her, and he couldn't have been only a foot away.

"What?" She was extremely confused, he wanted her to stay there? Right in the middle of all the chaos, that didn't seem to be the most safe location.

"With you here, I can make sure you're safe." She was once again confused. Why did it really matter if her, one person in the whole city was safe. "We've all been given strict instructions by Stark to keep you safe."

That made a lot more sense. "Well, I guess I'll be right here."

With one last departing nod, he turned and ran out into the chaotic street and began attacking creatures all around him.

Lennon noticed the large dumpster back behind her and ran over to it. That was the only thing that could even remotely keep her hidden.

As she was hunched down behind the dumpster, it allowed her a few moments to think. Her first and most prominent thought was that she needed to find Dean. Just thinking about all the possibilities made her stomach sick. Nothing could happen to him, it would kill her.

Her next thought was of Tony. She was extremely worried about him. She would be worried about Pepper as well, but she knew that she was safe on her plane. Tony on the other hand was out in the middle of everything trying to bring down Loki. She really didn't know a whole lot about his Iron Man suit, or how much power he had in it. But she really hoped that he would be able to handle all of this.

Her last thought was of her family. Although she hadn't been in contact with them as much as she should have been, it didn't make her care about them any less. Her mother had to be a wreck, she could only imagine what she was thinking.

Her older brother, he was probably trying to find the first flight out to find her. Being all the way on the opposite side of the country would make that a little bit difficult though.

From back behind the dumpster, Lennon couldn't see anything. But after sitting there for a while, and listening to the loud shots, screams, and roars of everything going on. It was extremely terrifying when everything suddenly went silent.

Lennon didn't know what that meant. Did they win? Or did they lose? Either way, she wasn't going to be rushing out and checking.

It had to be another twenty minutes, at least, before she heard footsteps walking down the alley. Her first instinct was to run, but then she remembered that the man had told her to stay there.

She turned so she was facing outward, and prepared herself to attack, just in case. But as the steps neared, she didn't have to. "Lennon?"

It was the same man from earlier. Letting out a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding, she stepped out from behind the dumpster. The man, or Captain America, as the world knew him, was waiting Just beside the dumpster.

She walked over to him, and before she could lose her nerve, she walked right up to him and threw her arms around him in a right hug.

Lennon wasn't a very affectionate person, but in the situation, she couldn't really help it. She needed to show her gratitude in some way, and that was it.

Captain America was caught off guard. Surely there weren't people running up and hugging him on the regular. After a moment, he finally allowed one of his gloved hands to rest on her upper back, just between her shoulder blades.

The hug only lasted a few moments before Lennon pulled back. She felt slightly embarassed, but tried to hide it by changing the subject. "Where's Tony?"

He was silent for a moment, and that made her start to panic. He must have noticed by how quickly he answered. "He's fine, he's out there." Jabbing his thumb over his shoulder he motioned out toward the street.

Lennon quickly began her march out into the street, and what she saw made her stop immediately and look around.

The city was a mess. There were people's bodies, and the creatures bodies littering the ground everywhere. The buildings there destroyed. And even though it looked as if all the creatures were gone, everyone was still on high alert, almost as if waiting to be attacked again.

Lennon was still frozen in place when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. Looking back it was Captain America, he looked over her shoulder before giving a nod in front of them.

When she turned back around there was Tony, and four other people standing in the street. All five of them looked pretty beat up.

Brushing off the man's hand she took off at a run and disnt stop until her body slammed into Tony's. Tony wasn't known to be a very affectionate man either, but he clung to her just as hard as she hung on to him.

Their embrace was very brief and after a moment they both pulled back. As they pulled back Tony let a smirk cross his face before touching a rather sore spot on the younger woman's face. "You look like shit, kid."

She scoffed and shoved the man away from her. "You don't look so beautiful either."

Tony reached out and pulled the younger woman under his arm, she was pretty sure he was trying to discreetly use her as a came. He then motioned towards the rest of the crew. "Lennon, these are the merry band of misfits I was telling you about."

Lennon watched as he got dirty looks from the people standing in front of thwm, but didn't say anything. "Thank you."

She sort of just blurted it out, but it was more or less what she meant. These people had single handedly saved the city.

"I'm starving." Lennon looked over at Tony who was still leaning heavily against her. "Want to grab a bite to eat?"

Lennon laughed a moment and shook her head. Now that everything had settled, she remembered Dean. "I need to find Dean." She took a step away and watched as he shifted his weight to try and find a less uncomfortable position. "Have you seen him?"

Tony gave her a look before smirking. "Sorry kiddo, was a little to busy saving the world to keep an eye out for your boyfriend."

She shoved the man one last time before taking a few steps away. "I'm going to go find him." After she walked a little further away she turned back, "Call Pepper, let her know you're alive. She's probably freaking out."

As she turned back around she heard him curse before asking someone for a cell phone. Lennon was about half a block away when she heard footsteps running after her. Her immediate reaction was defense, but as she turned she saw that it was Captain America.

"I was just seeing if you would like some help?" As she looked up into his masked face, she noticed his bright blue eyes and smiled.

"Help would be great, I have no idea where to even start." He gave her a smile and they started walking down the street.

As they walked down the street there were people all around them stopping them and thanking Captain America. It was nice and all, but Lennon was on a mission to find Dean.

* * *

After an hour, Lennon was beginning to panic, and it was taking everything in her to keep herself from outwardly freaking out.

"We'll find him." Captain America was watching her with a sympathetic expression. She was just about to thank him again when they heard her name being called out.

Lennon had spun in a complete circle before being stopped by a pair of hands. They turned her to face a direction, and there in front of her was Dean, running full speed toward her.

She waited for him to get to her, and as soon as he did his arms went around her and pulled her into the tightest hug imaginable. "Len, you idiot."

Pulling back far enough to look in his face she gave him a dark look. "Idiot?"

"Yes, idiot." He pulled her back in and hurried his head into the top of her head. "You're not a superhero, you can't just run around the city when it's being invaded."

She scowled at the man before pulling away, taking a moment to examine him. He looked uninjured, and clean, he must have found a safe place to hide,

As she looked up into his face once more she saw that she was no longer the focus of his attention. He was now looking over her shoulder, where she had forgotten Captain America was standing.

Grabbing Dean's arm she pulled him over to the man in the uniform. "Dean, this is Captain America." She watched as the two watched each other. Captain America held out his hand and Dean immediately grabbed it.

"Thank you," he paused and looked back to Lennon. "Thanks for watching after her."

Lennon let herself roll her eyes before Grabbing Dean's other arm and holding onto it tightly. She wasn't ever going to let him out of her sight again. "I took care of myself just fine."

Captain America looked over at her and gave her a small smile, but didn't say anything otbebrwise. They both knew she probably wouldn't have made it out of the invasion of it weren't for him.

He then took a couple steps away from them before motioning back towards the tower. "Now that we've found him, I should probably go meet up with the others."

Lennon let go of Dean and stepped forward toward the man. He seemed confused and took another step back, Lennon could hear Dean chuckle from behind her.

She took another step forward and reached out and grabbed his arm. He sort of froze in place, and Lennon took that as her chance, taking the last step to pull him down into another awkward embrace.

Once again, he took a moment before reacting. This time, with an awkward pat on the back. She smiled and stepped back from the man. "Thank you again, Captain?" She questioned, not quite knowing what to call him.

He just watched her a moment, and when he didn't say anything else, she started back toward Dean. "Steve." She turned back and he was looking from her to the man behind her. "My name is Steve."

Lennon smiled at the man, before giving him a nod. "Thank you, Steve." She then turned around and took Dean's arm, leading him off and in the direction that would take them home.

* * *

"Mom, I'm fine." Lennon was pacing around her condo with her phone pressed to her ear. She was now home, clean and bandaged up. Dean was sprawled across her couch as she tried to convince her mother that her and her brother, Matt didn't need to come out.

Lennon was silent for a few moments as her mother spoke on the other side of the phone. Dean had not sat up and was watching her from the back of the couch.

"Mom, if you insist on coming, let it be just one of you." She was silent again as her mom rattled off on the other end. Dean was amused by how frustrated Lennon was becoming with her mother. "Yes, I am fine, really."

"Tell them to FaceTime you." Dean suggested as he picked up the pillow next to him and threw it at her.

She snapped her fingers in excitement and nodded. "Mom, you guys can FaceTime me. Then you'll see that I'm safe, and not injured." She then picked the pillow up and hurled it back at Dean, who caught it effortlessly. "Yes, okay. Give me half an hour, I have Dean here." There was a pause as her mother spoke again. "Yes mom, I will." Dean rolled his eyes as the conversation came to an end. "I love you too, talk to you soon."

As soon as she hung up the phone she placed it on the table and let out a loud, exasperated groan. "They are so annoying."

She didn't even walk around the couch, she just threw herself over the back and came to land half on the couch, and half on Dean.

"They are just worried about you." Dean reached down and started playing with the damp hair that rested against his thigh. "I would be too, if I weren t here with you."

"I know, I know." She sighed and looked up at him from his leg. "That's the only reason I'm being as understanding as I am." And it was true, Lennon wasn't the most patient person when it came to her family.

"Len, just give them a break." He smirked down at her and she shoved his hand away from her head before closing her eyes. "Have you checked in with Stark and Pepper."

She sat up and shook her head. She really wanted to as well, at least to make sure that Pepper was okay. She hadnt spoken with her since everything happened.

However, in all the chaos, she had lost her cell phone and that held all of her contacts. She stood up from the couch and went over to her table, picking up her laptop. "Well, I guess I better get this over with." She started walking down the hallway to her room, before pausing and turning back to Dean. "I'm really glad you're safe Dean, I don't know what I would do without you."

She gave him one last smile and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. However what she didn't see was the way that the man on the couch watched her as she walked away. Or the groan he let out as he threw himself back into the couch, in an almost fit like motion.

She also didn't hear him, as he said the three words that would change everything there was in their friendship.


End file.
